Tories tipped to take over police authorities

Labour's plan to give the public a greater say in how police forces are run would see local control of policing handed to the Tories in vast swaths of the country, the Electoral Reform Society (ERS) has claimed. The assertion is likely to alarm Home Office ministers as they attempt to push forward their proposal to make the majority of members of police authorities directly electable.

An ERS report says Labour's plan could see the party hand over control of the vast majority of police authorities to the Tories. Based on the 2007 local election results, the Conservatives would win two thirds of the seats on police authorities outside London, with only 38 per cent of the popular vote. Labour would be left with no representation on 10 authorities and would be annihilated in the south, gaining only 10 members out of a total of 176.